Cody Gakpo suggests player Liverpool got rid of for free was even better than Mohamed Salah

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Cody Gakpo has delivered the goods consistently under Arne Slot and has quietly grown in stature over the past month.

With Luis Diaz also in fine form this season, Slot has a massive selection headache for the left-wing spot but it’s one he’ll relish having.

Since joining Liverpool in January 2023, Gakpo has played with a handful of fantastic footballers at Anfield.

But the Dutchman believes a player Liverpool released earlier this summer was his best-ever teammate for club and country.

Liverpool attacker Cody Gakpo names Thiago Alcantara as his best-ever teammate

Thiago Alcantara attended Liverpool’s 4-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen and was spotted in the Anfield tunnel enjoying a lovely embrace with Ibrahima Konate and Xabi Alonso, two of his former teammates.

The gifted midfielder was plagued by injuries last season and played just five minutes of football as he left the club after his contract expired.

Gakpo played alongside Thiago for the best part of 18 months and would have witnessed his magic firsthand as he named him as his best-ever teammate.

The likes of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk would have been obvious answers owing to their exploits at Anfield over the years, but Gakpo picking Thiago shows just how highly the midfielder was rated in his playing days.

Earlier this month, Trent Alexander-Arnold hailed Thiago as a ‘beautiful’ footballer, naming him among his best-ever teammates, much like Gakpo.

Thiago’s Liverpool career in numbers

The elegant midfielder joined the club from Bayern Munich after winning the UEFA Champions League with the Bavarian giants in 2020 and showed his class whenever he took to the pitch.

However, injuries restricted him to just 98 appearances across four seasons as he left the club at the end of the 2023-24 season with two Carabao Cups and one FA Cup to his name.

Thiago is one of the most decorated footballers of his generation and had a brief coaching stint for Barcelona under Hansi Flick earlier this year.

His next move remains unclear, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he proceeds to do his coaching badges and returns to the game as a manager in the future.